Proposed Collection; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

Proposed Collection; Comment Request

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to

reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance

consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies

with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing

collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps to

ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format,

reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized,

collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of

collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed.

Currently, the Employment and Training Administration is soliciting

comments concerning the proposed consolidation and renewal of Job Corps

applicant forms. A copy of the proposed information collection request

(ICR) can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the

addressee section of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the

Addresses section below on or before December 7, 1999.

ADDRESSES: June P. Veach, Office of Job Corps, 200 Constitution Avenue

N.W., Room N-4507, Washington, D.C. 20210. E-Mail Internet Address:

J[email protected]; Telephone number: (202) 219-5556, ext. 129 (This is

not a toll-free number); Fax number: (202) 501-5457 (This is not a

toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

The Job Corps program is designed to serve low-income young women

and men, 16 through 24, who are in need of additional vocational,

educational and social skills training, and other support services in

order to gain meaningful employment, return to school or enter the

Armed Forces. Authorized by the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998.

Job Corps is operated by the Department of Labor through a nationwide

network of 118 Job Corps centers. The program is primarily a

residential program operating 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, with

non-resident enrollees limited by legislation to 20 percent of national

enrollment. These centers presently accommodate more than 40,000

students. To ensure that the centers are filled with youth who are low-

come, as well as capable of and committed to doing the work necessary

to achieve the benefits of Job Corps, certain eligibility requirements

have been established by the legislation.

The purpose of this collection is to gather information from

applicants to the program in order to determine their eligibility for

Job Corps. These forms are critical to the screening process. They are

the initial forms completed by the Job Corps admissions counselors for

each applicant.

The ETA 652, Job Corps Data Sheet, is used to obtain information

for screening and enrollment purposes to determine eligibility for the

Job Corps program in accordance with the requirements of the Workforce

Investment Act. It is prepared electronically by an admissions

counselor for each applicant. It also provides demographic

characteristics for program reporting purposes. Data for the form are

collected by interview. The information collected determines

eligibility in regard to age, legal U.S. residency, family income/

welfare status, school status, behavioral problems (if any), parental

consent, and child care needs of each applicant.

The ETA 655, Statement from Courts or Other Agencies, and ETA 655A,

Statement from Institution, collect essential information for

determining an applicant's eligibility. They are used to document past

behavior problems for all applicants, as well as provide a basis for

projecting future behavior. If this

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information were not obtained, serious problems could result from

enrolling potentially harmful or disruptive individuals in Job Corps,

which is a residential program. This could have legal implications for

the Federal government.

The ETA 682, Child Care Certification, is used to certify an

applicant's arrangements for care of a dependent child(ren) while the

applicant is in Job Corps.

II. Review Focus

The Department of Labor is particularly interested in comments

which:

* Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is

necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,

including whether the information will have practical utility;

* evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of

the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used;

* enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to

be collected; and

* minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who

are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated,

electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or

other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic

submissions of responses.

III. Current Actions

The following Job Corps application forms have expired. It was

anticipated that the change to electronic collection would be completed

much more quickly than has happened. The final version was not

completed until October 1998. In addition, the anticipation and

introduction of the Workforce Investment Act created an additional

delay because of changes in Job Corps eligibility requirements mandated

by that Act. Job Corps has continued to collect application data

because it was necessary to the application process that youth

receiving training on Job Corps centers be eligible for the benefits

provided. No harm has been done while the forms were expired. No

outreach and admissions reports have been submitted and/or developed

for Congress during the period.

Job Corps has now implemented electronic collection of data during

the Job Corps application process and the changes required by the WIA

have been incorporated in the collection. We request that the following

forms used in the application process be reinstated and consolidated

under OMB 1205-0025:

ETA 652, Job Corps Data Sheet (1205-0025);

ETA 655, Statement from Court or Other Agency (1205-

0026);

ETA 655A, Statement from Institution (1205-0026); and

ETA 682, Child Care Certification (1205-0033).

The ETA 682 was previously included with the ETA 653, Health

Questionnaire, in 1205-0033, but was removed from that collection by

OMB at Job Corps' request. In addition, several items from the ETA 660,

Request for Readmission, in 1205-0031, have been moved to the ETA 652.

The remainder of the information on the form is duplicated on other

forms or is not necessary to the application process and we request

that the ETA 660 be canceled as a separate form.

The overall result of these actions will be a reduction in

paperwork burden hours and a streamlined electronic application. One

other application form used to collect data for determining eligibility

to Job Corps is the ETA 653, Health Questionnaire, which has previously

been approved under 1205-0033. This will remain as a separate

collection for OMB approval purposes, although it is collected

electronically with the above forms at the time of application.

Type of Review: Reinstatement with change.

Agency: Employment and Training Administration.

Title: Application Data Collection.

OMB Numbers: 1205-0025.

Agency Numbers: ETA 652, ETA 655, ETA 655A, and ETA 682.

Recordkeeping: The applicant is not required to retain records;

admissions counselors or contractor main offices are required to retain

records of applicants who enroll in the program for 3 years from the

date of application.

Affected Public: Individuals who apply to Job Corps; business or

other for-profit/not-for-profit institutions; State, Local or Tribal

Government.

Cite/Reference/Form/etc

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Total Average time per

Title respondents Frequency respondent Burden

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Job Corps Application: ETA 652....... 103,000 1/person............... 25 minutes............. 40,291

Statement from Court: ETA 655........ 103,000 1/person............... 5 minutes.............. 8,608

Statement from Institution: ETA 655A. 10,300 On occasion............ 5 minutes.............. 861

Child Care Certification: ETA 682.... 7,000 On occasion............ 5 minutes.............. 584

Total.......................... ........... ....................... ....................... 50,334

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Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): When the electronic system was

initially piloted and implemented in 1996, the start-up costs totaled

$2,680,000, including $2,000,000 for 925 computer workstations,

$480,000 for training Job Corps admissions counselors and center staff

and, in 1997, $200,000 for replacements and memory upgrades. These were

one-time-only costs.

Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining): Operating and

maintenance services associated with these forms are contracted yearly

by the Federal government with outreach and admissions contractors,

according to designated recruiting areas. This is one of the many

functions the contractors perform for which precise costs cannot be

identified. Based on past experience of recruitment contractors,

however, the annual cost for contractor staff and related costs is

estimated to be about $771,750. An additional cost of $80,138 is added

for the value of applicant time, making a total cost of $851,888. For

the approximately 70 percent of Job Corps applicants who have never

worked, no value is determined. For the remaining 30 percent of

applicants who have been in the work force previously for any length of

time, whether full-time or less, the current minimum wage of $5.15 is

used to determine the value of applicant time (ETA 652, including the

ETA 660: $66,744, ETA 655: $13,208, ETA 655A: $111; and ETA 682: $75).

Comments submitted in response to this comment request will be

summarized and/or included in the request for Office of Management and

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Budget approval of the information collection request; they will also

become a matter of public record.

Dated: October 4, 1999.

Mary H. Silva,

National Director, Job Corps.

[FR Doc. 99-26362 Filed 10-7-99; 8:45 am]

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